Easter festivities begin at Vailankanni shrine

The Week-long Easter celebrations commencedtoday at the ancient Shrine Basillica in nearby Vailankanni with the "Palm Sunday" procession.
The celebrations will end with Easteron April 16.
As part of "PalmSunday", priests and others went in a procession carrying palmleaves at Vailankanni, a famous Christian pilgrim centre in Tamil Nadu.
Throughout the week, the 17th century shrine would see a stream of pilgrims, wearing saffron saris and loin cloths.
Also, several people undertake a "padayatra" to the church from all over the state travelling for days on foot. On their arrival at Vailankanni, they get their heads tonsured as thanksgiving.
Several Hindus also take part in the padayatra and Easter celebrations.

The events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus are considered holy for the Christians and they celebrate the whole week preceding Easter as 'Holy Week'.
Special prayers were held at the New Jerusalem church, Tarangambadi, which is the oldest protestant church in Asia.